Credit: Nick WalkerWhile the "song of the summer" discussion is usually a pop-dominated affair, X Ambassadors certainly had the alternative rock song of the summer with "Renegades," which spent 11 straight weeks at number-one at Alternative radio. The single is featured on X Ambassadors' debut album, VHS, which comes six years after the band first started in 2009. To them, the success of "Renegades" proves that they're at least doing something right.
"It feels fantastic to finally be getting this kind of recognition," keyboardist Casey Harris tells ABC Radio. "We've been at this whole music thing, being a band for so many years now, and it's sort of a...it may sound slightly strange, but almost a sense of relief, like finally we're getting acknowledgment that we are doing the right thing. We were on the right track all along, and it just took some time.
"It makes our parents happy," adds frontman Sam Harris, Casey's younger brother.
The success of "Renegades" is in part thanks to a commercial for the Jeep Renegade, which prominently features both the song and the X Ambassadors band members. X Ambassadors wrote "Renegades" long before it was used for the ad, but they were never worried that they were "selling out" by letting the song be used for a commercial.
"I think with the way the record industry is now and the way that you don't really make as much money off an album itself, per se, that people understand you gotta do what you gotta do to get your music out there, pay the bills," Casey says. "If you can still make it authentic and true to yourself, then that's what makes you a truly authentic, good, unique artist, not whether you're in the commercial or not."
Being a catchy song in a commercial is one thing, being a track that connects with people beyond an advertisement is very much another. Sam believes that listeners have been drawn to the message of "Renegades," a message that X Ambassadors themselves very much believe in.
"I think that it's promoting being different and being an individual and being unique," Sam tells ABC Radio. "I mean we are living in a society where that is definitely...everyone personalizes everything and your whole social media feed. You want that to be as much as a look into who you are as possible."
While X Ambassadors have certainly enjoyed the success of "Renegades" as a single, they are even more pleased that the song has made fans want to listen to VHS as a whole album.
"That's amazing to hear, because we're living in an age where most people don't listen to albums, most people listen to singles, or a couple of songs from one artist here or there, but you rarely just take the time to put on the entire album," says Casey. "But we tried to make an album that people wanted to do that with, and that's, honestly, when I hear that, that makes me the most happy."
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